On Saturday evening, TMZ announced that Ronda Rousey will grace the 2016 cover of Sports Illustrated: Swim, and she will be joined by fellow models Ashley Graham and Hailey Clauson. Last year, Graham became the first plus-sized model to grace the issue (even though it was an ad campaign). Now Graham is stepping into the big time with a cover of her own. Yep, there’s no joint cover! The magazine is doing up three separate glossies for all three lovely ladies.
In a very special, drawn-out ceremony, Nick Cannon did the announcing honors. There’s a lot of goodies here to unpack, but first, here’s a first look at the covers.
Because one just wasn’t enough. Here are your THREE 2016 #SISwim cover models! https://t.co/Akav137QKh pic.twitter.com/doCJAKGkE0
— Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 14, 2016
Before the big announcement, Elle Macpherson accepted the Julie Campbell Award. She also posted a fantastic throwback photo on Twitter.
#fbf Just because it's Sports Illustrated time! SI 1980s. pic.twitter.com/x7dT5LlFqN
— Elle Macpherson (@ellemacpherson) February 13, 2016
In addition to the cover goodness, here’s a behind the scenes video (featuring Rousey) of the bodypainting process. If you’ll recall, Rousey’s advance bodypaint images created quite a stir and for good reason. Congrats to Rousey, Graham, and Clauson.
(Via SI: Swim)